Does UTI treatment cause antibiotic resistance?

It's complicated. Because UTIs are so common, the bacteria that causes them has had lots of opportunities to develop antibiotic resistance. Does this mean you should avoid antibiotics? Nope! Antibiotics are still our safest and most effective tool against infections. The emergence of resistant strains has led physicians to develop prescribing guidelines for UTIs to prevent further antibiotic resistance. There are a few different factors that contribute to antibiotic resistance: physicians overprescribing or mis-prescribing antibiotics, and patients who do not complete their full course of treatment which can allow bacteria from their infection to survive and develop resistance. The best thing you can do as a patient is to take your full course of antibiotics exactly as prescribed to do your part in preventing resistance!